The United States Army Air Forces in W.W.II

[Richard T Eger]

The purpose of this site, as quoted from its homepage, is:

"This site exists to help you research the United States Army Air Forces, its personnel, units, and aircraft. It is never too late to start your search."

The site address is:

http://www.armyairforces.com/

It's functionality is somewhat akin the to Heavy Bombers website. Sections are as follows:


The Forums - A well-established set of forums to help answer your questions.


Databases

Unit Database - Searchable any one of 5 ways, it gives brief histories of each unit.

MACR Database - Searchable in one of 4 ways, it gives basic line entry information on each loss. There are no details. For those, you actually need to see the actual MACR. But, if you only know, say, the aircraft serial number, the search engine can give you the MACR number, which then allows you to get detailed information.

AF/Div/Wing - Brief histories of any Air Force, Division, or Wing.

AAF Dictionary - An excellent acronym directory. Now you can find out what alphabet soup like BTG actually meant. The directory is searchable by compete words, acronyms, or partial words.

MOS Database - This list cross identifies the functional job title with the Military Occupation Specialty number. For instance, an aerial gunner's MOS number was 611. The list is searchable by job title or MOS number.

Airfield Database - Covering only WW II airfields within the U.S., this simple search engine locates the airfield by entering either the name of the field or listing all airfields within a single state. There is no information given about the airfields.


Aircraft - Includes general and detail photos of surviving B-17's, B-24's, and B-29's, along with drawings of unit tail markings. Also provided is a simple aircraft recognition guide for the uninitiated.


The Radio Room - Interactive information on:

The Forums
Association Updates Form
Site Feedback
Corrections Form
E-mail, Announcements List


Research

Research Help - Good, concise guidance on where to go for help. This looks very much like the page from the Heavy Bombers website. It covers where to go for:

Personnel records
293 file, Individual Deceased Personnel File
Missing Air Crew Reports (MACR)
KU Report
POW Questionnaire
Accident Reports
Unit Histories, War Diaries, Daily Reports, Station Memorandum, Special Orders, Public Relations Reports, Loading Lists, etc.
Group Associations
Veterans Administration

For help in locating veterans, it offers:

ArmyAirForces.com guide to locating veterans
Social Security Death Index
American Battle Monuments Commission: WWII Honor Roll

And, of course, it suggests the site's own forums.


Special Sections

Project 44, research into April 19, 1944.

Photos from Frederick AAF, Oklahoma.

Class 44H "Base Leg" book from Majors Field, Texas.

General AAF Timeline of World War II - A day by day listings of missions flown. This is a very nice source to understand what was going on on each day.


The Store - Caps, shirts, mugs, etc. with unit emblems.


Regards,
Richard

[Richard T Eger]

After I wrote up the above, I went looking for the Heavy Bombers website which I noted. The address is/was:

http:/www.heavybombers.com

Apparently, this is one and the same website, its new name being The United States Air Forces in W.W.II. The address automatically changes to:

http://www.armyairforces.com

With the addition of fighter information, the name change would be only logical.

Regards,
Richard

[Richard T Eger]

While the title of this site remains unchanged in the system tray, the home page now identifies it as ArmyAirForces.com.

Regards,
Richard